Machine for clearing away the ballast from under the railway track sleepers



March 13, 1956 MACHINE FOR '0 Filed NOV. 14, 1951 J DROUARD ETAL LEARING AWAY THE BALLAST FROM UNDER THE RAILWAY TRACK SLEEPERS l3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS' JACQUES DROl/ARD AND GEORGES BOULARD y MW ATTORNEVS J. DROUARD ET AL MACHINE FOR CLEARING AWAY THE BALLAST FROM March 13, 1956 2,737,901

UNDER THE RAILWAY TRACK SLEEPERS l3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 14, 1951 JACQUES DROUARD GEORGES B gLARD 7 MM AA ATTORNEYS March 13, 1956 J DROUARD ET AL 2,737,901

MACHINE FOR CLEARING AWAY THE BALLAST FROM UNDER THE RAILWAY TRACK SLEEPERS Filed Nov. 14, 1951 13 Sheets-Sheet 5 "y, i M xi m l/VVENT0R3 l JACQUES DROUARD :45 AND GEORGES BOI/LARD Q 757 MW March 13, 1956 Filed Nov.

J. DROUARD ET AL 2,737,901

MACHINE FOR CLEARING AWAY THE BALLAST FROM UNDER THE RAILWAY TRACK SLEEPERS l3 Sheets-Sheet 4 fig 9.

i ATTG RNEYS March 1956 J. DROUARD ET AL 2,737,901

MACHINE FOR CLEARING AWAY THE BALLAST FROM UNDER THE RAILWAY TRACK SLEEPERS Filed Nov. 14, 1951 15 Sheets-Sheet 5 Fig.5

IN VENTORS A TORNEYS March 13, 1956 J. DROUARD ET AL 2,737,901

MACHINE FOR CLEARING AWAY THE BALLAST FROM UNDER THE RAILWAY TRACK SLEEPERS Filed Nov. 14, 1951 13 Sheets-Sheet 6 I NJ ,1/ l mam/205s BOULARD TI 1 y ozihzfim/adm-zz ATTORNEYS March 13, 1956 J. DROUARD ET AL 2,737,901

MACHINE FOR CLEARING AWAY THE BALLAST FROM UNDER THE RAILWAY TRACK SLEEPERS Filed Nov. 14, 1951 15 Sheets-Sheet 7 INVENTORS m AND I ATTORNEYS March J. DROUARD .ET AL MACHINE FOR CLEARING AWAY THE BALLAST FROM UNDER THE RAILWAY TRACK SLEEPERS l3 SheetsSheet 8 Filed Nov. 14, 1951 INVENTORS 5 m 1 1 0 8 RW D am 5 T BM M M 60 AFL JG Mu/ 2 March 1956 J. DROUARD ETAL 2,737,901

MACHINE FOR CLEARING AWAY THE BALLAST FROM UNDER THE RAILWAY TRACK SLEEPERS Filed Nov. 14, 1951 13 Sheets-Sheet 9 La; .l u

ggag 252; 2g; B Y Q a a ATTORNEYS March 13, 1956 J. DROUARD ET AL 2,737,901

MACHINE FOR CLEARING AWAY THE BALLAST FROM UNDER THE RAILWAY TRACK SLEEPERS Filed NOV. 14, 1951 13 Sheets-Sheet 10 INVENTORS 1' w ATTORNEYS Mar 1956 J. DROUARD ET AL MACHINE FOR CLEARING AWAY THE BALLAST FROM UNDER THE RAILWAY TRACK SLEEPERS l3 Sheets-Sheet 11 Filed NOV. 14, 1951 JACQUES DROUARD D R A L U 0 w B4 a R S m L T G A m L G D U/ MB March 13, 1956 J. DROUARD ETAL MACHINE FOR CLEARING AWAY THE BALLAST FROM UNDER THE RAILWAY TRACK SLEEPERS l3 Sheets-Sheet 12 Filed NOV. 14, 1951 l yA /4 .4 M I M n. v M. r

INVENTORS D M WM R0 5 D n B WM 8 0 B m G Q mm G my 3 March 1955 .1. DROUARD ET AL MACHINE FOR CLEARING AWAY THE BALLAST FROM UNDER THE RAILWAY TRACK SLEEPERS l3 Sheets-Sheet 13 Filed Nov. 14, 1951 INVENTOR U s 0U /9U R0 N H DB m 58 T Mm A mm United States Patent MACHINE FGR CLEARING AWAY THE BALLAST FRGM UNDER THE RAHJWAY TRACK SLEEPERS Jacques Drouard, Paris, and Georges Boulard,

euilly-sur-Seine, France Application November 14, 15 51, Serial No. 256,196

Claims priority, application France November 17, 1950 4 Claims. (Cl. 104-7) The present device relates to railway track maintenance apparatus and is more particularly concerned with machines designed to clear away the ballast from railway tracks, notably the whole of this ballast, including that lying under the sleepers of the track, of course without removing or dismantling the track proper.

As a rule, machines of this kind comprise a frame adapted to roll on the track rails with a slow, continuous motion, and carry picking members adapted to remove the ballast and transfer members adapted to lift the ballast removed by these picking members and dump it into conveyor means leading to a screener for separating the As the eificiency of the machine is strictly dependent on the size of the digging members, thetrend is to give them the largest possible dimensions. Considering however that the ballast should be cleared away toa relatively shallow depth (between 2 and from the bottom faces of the sleepers), where the bed to be cleared away is thin it is necessary either to lift the track when these digging members pass so that they may be inserted be neath the sleepers without tampering therewith or departing from the actual depth of ballast to be cleared away, or to construct these digging members with extremely reduced vertical dimensions, thereby restricting the output.

It is important to constantly and accurately keep to the prescribed depth of ballast to be removed. In hitherto known machines the digging member that operates beneath the sleepers is suspended under the rolling frame and between the axles or bogie trucks thereof.

For permitting the passage of the digging or picking chain under the track the following methods are resorted to:

In certain machines the track is first lifted by means of jacks at the front of the machine, then supported by struts during the passage of the machine, and finally allowed to rest. This is a toilsome and costly operation; moreover, the depth of ballast cleared away is neither accurate nor constant on account of the dubious propping and difficult to modify in accordance with level conditions.

In other machines a lifting member suspended from the rolling frame lifts the track as the chain progresses. The latter is also suspended from the machine frame and is even formed integrally with the lifting member.

However, since the chain lies between the aides or bogie trucks of the machine the front axle wheels roll on an unaltered track, while therear axle wheels engage a track lying on a ballast bed having an unknown and a possibly variable depth. As a result, it is difficult to determine the required level of the digging chain and if a constant depth is desired the vertical-motion controls of this chain must be operated continuously.

It is an object of this invention to avoid these various inconveniences by providing a machine adapted to ensure by itself and without any possibility of error, the depth required for the ballast removing operation.

According to the chief characteristic feature of the invention the digging device of the machine is mounted at the rear of the machine and the operative portion of this digging device is suspended in overhanging relationship at the rear end of a truck supporting on the other hand the screening members and the waste discharging members, this truck being designed to roll on the still unworked track the profile of which is stable, whereby the level obtained by the machine is also stable.

With these general statements of the objects and purposes of our invention we will now proceed to describe the embodiment thereof and the manner in which our invention is carried out, and it will be understood that while we have described what may be considered as a preferable embodiment of the invention, we do not limit ourselves to the precise conditions or proportions herein set forth, as they may be varied by those skilled in the art in accordance with particular conditions under which they are to be utilized.

The afiixed drawing forming part of this specification illustrated diagrammatically two forms of embodiment of the invention given by way of example. In the drawing:

Fig. l is a diagrammatical side elevation of the first embodiment of the machine for clearing away the ballast from under the railway track sleepers.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view of the left hand portion of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of the right hand portion of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view of the right hand portion of Fig. 5.

' Fig. 5 is a diagrammatical side elevation of a modified form of the present device.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of Fig. 3.

Fig. 8 is a side view of the pivotal connection of the semi-trailer with the rear end of the front truck.

Fig. 9 is a top view of Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged lateral View of the left end of. Fig. 3.

Fig, 11 is an enlarged lateral view of the left end of Fig. 4.

Fig. 12 is an enlarged end elevation of the vibrating screen and its supports.

'Fig. 13 is a side elevation of Fig. 12.

Fig. 14- is an enlarged side elevation of the crawler tracks.

Fig. 15 is a top view of Fig. 14; and

Fig. 16 is a diagrammatical elevation of a modified form of digging and elevating device.

' From these figures it will be seen that the machine according to the invention is constructed as follows:

The front end of the machine, which moves on the track 1 to be stripped in the direction of the arrow, is supported by a frame 2 carried by two wheel carrying axles 3, 4. Both axles wheels roll on the still undisturbed track 1 and therefore along a way which is both stable and level.

This frame 2 carries at its rear end an overhanging extension member or beam 5 the outer end of which sup- Ports a cross-tie 6 adapted, through vertically adjustable screw means 7, to support in turn the bottom or operativeend 8 of the digging chain; in addition, this chain is adjustable in the transverse direction. i

Obviously, the level 9 for the bottom of this digging chain 8 is determined by adjusting screw means 7 for obtaining the proper position of said chain relative to frame 2 which will insure safe operation thereof in view of the rigid connection between this chain and the machine frame 2 rolling on a track 1, which is level and not an irregularly and dubiously laid track or a track partially supported by ballast recovered in variable quantities.

In addition, in order to support the track in the vicinity of the section from which the ballast is cleared away the arrangement comprises, at the rear of the digging chain 8,

a supporting device 10 consisting for example of a pair of interconnected crawler tracks of which the lower one If rolls on the formation level while the upper one 12 engages the bottom face of the sleepers 13 of the railway track.

This crawler undercarriage 10 is coupled to the channel in which the chain 8 is guided, and progresses therewith while supporting the track as it presents itself and lifting it if necessary (in case of shallow-depth ballast-removal) just enough to permit the passage of the chain 8. It will be seen that the crawler track 11 rolls on a formation 14 formed at a uniform level 9 by the scraper chain 8. As a result, the railway track is also uniformly lifted without any shock or undue stress.

An alternate form of this track-lifting arrangement may consist of a single crawler track progressing under the sleepers and suspended from the overhanging rolling frame.

On the other hand it will be seen that the digging chain does not contact the raised track portion; as a consequence, the track assembly is not subjected to any forces from this chain or by its supporting members, thereby avoiding any possibility of undesired side-shifting of this track.

Finally, the machine has mounted at the rear of and coupled to the crawler track device a plough shaped device 15 adapted to spread at a uniform level the recovered ballast 16 (shown in crosshatched form in Figures 1 and 5) dumped or dispensed at 17 as will be described later.

A relatively simple arrangement may consist in suspending in overhanging relationship the whole of the ballast-removing and lifting members, including the control members 18 and driving motor 19 thereof, from the rear end of the beam 5. However, this would result in excessive stresses and therefore the cross-sectional dimensions of this beam, besides, the weight carried by the rear axle 3 would reach prohibitive values. These drawbacks may be avoided by coupling to the rear end of the frame 2 an auxiliary or rear frame 21 supported at its front end by the main frame 2 and at its rear end by an axle or bogie track 22, the front end being swivelled about a vertical axis 2t) fixed with the front frame and preferably disposed at right angles to the railway track and coincident with the plane of the rear axle of the main frame.

Several arrangements may be devised regarding the rear axle 22. Thus (see Figure l), the axle 22 may be positioned adjacent to the extreme rear end so that its wheels may run on the track which already rests in a natural fashion on the recovered ballast bed 16; according to another embodiment illustrated in Figure 5 the axle of the rear frame 21, which is designated by the reference number 23 may engage the track normally to the crawler track 12 by which this railway track is supported. In the first case the wheelbase between axles 4 and 22 should be sufficient to prevent the track-lifting operation performed by the crawler track 12 from exerting any detrimental stresses on the railway track material whereby in this respect, conditions are substantially identical (although improved by the very small degree of track-lifting) with those encountered with certain known machines. In both cases, provided the crawler track 12 is positioned a sufficient distance away from the axle 4, the stress imposed to the railway track is lessened to a substantial degree because the track is allowed freely to fall back at the rear on the recovered and new ballast bed.

In either case the rear frame 21, fulcrumed about the axis and supported both at this point and at the location of the rear axle 22 or 23, is comparable with a semitrailer. It carries the ballast elevators, their control members 18 and the suspension of the ballast-spreader 15, thereby distributing the weight of these members partly on the rear end of the front frame 2 and partly either on the rear axle 22 supported by a track laying upon a newly formed bed of recovered and levelled ballast, or on an axle 23 (Figure 5) rolling on a track section supported by a crawler undercarriage supported in turn by an even formation bed 14.

The machine comprises a conveyor system 24, 25 adapted to receive the ballast cleared away by the scraper chain 8 and elevated thereby up to the hopper 26 and to dump this ballast onto the vibrating screen 27. As a rule, the vibrating screen 27 is positioned with its medial plane coincident with the medial plane of the track 1. Therefore, when the slope of formation is relatively pronounced (see Figure 12) the vibrating screen would assume the same transverse inclination, if no relative adjustment is provided between said screen and the truck. As a consequence, the material to be screened would accumulate against the wall on the leaning side of the screener and a faulty screening would result. This drawback is eliminated by hingedly mounting the support 28 of the vibrating screener about a horizontal axis 29 with two jacks 30 for raising above the truck either of the sides of the screener to be restored to a horizontal position.

The recoverable portion of the ballast is dumped into the double hopper 31 and is received by the side conveyors 32 and the latter transfer the cleaned ballast through a chute 33 onto the formation bed or platform 14 at 17.

The fine gravel is carried along the conveyor 34, dumped thereby upon the front swivelling conveyor 35 and finally discharged either to the front or laterally.

Special cloths 36 may be fitted for recovering the fine gravel and dumping it through the medium of a small conveyor 37 either along the track side or into a hopper or chute provided for this purpose.

It will be seen that the general arrangement of the machine according to the invention is characterized in that the digging portion thereof is positioned at the rear and the screening device at the front, whilst the wastedrscharging unit is at the very front of the machine. This is the reverse of known machines comprising from front to rear the digging portion, then the screening portion and finally the waste discharging portion.

The advantages resulting from this novel arrangement are:

In the first place and as already disclosed, the heaviest portion of the machine rolls on a stable, uniform track by 110 means disturbed by the passage of the ballast clearing machine; it is this portion of the machine that supports through the beam 5, cross-tie 6 and screw props 7 the digging member 8; therefore, the desired depth of ballast will be accurately cleared away by the machine without any possibility of diverting from the pre-set thickness value.

On the other hand, if it is desired to load the waste directly on a train of trucks provided with any suitable conveyor or transfer apparatus, this train and the locomotive to which it is coupled may be placed ahead of the machine, that is, on a firm track, instead of on the newly laid and badly-levelled track of recovered ballast at the rear, as in the case of other known machines, which is detrimental to both track material and rolling stock.

An assembly comprising a power unit 38 of any suitable description and convenient transmission means 39 with clutch and gearbox is provided for driving the axle and therefore propel the machine at a reasonable speed from its shed to the site and vice-versa. A generator 40 supplies electric current to the motors controlling the various movements, including the low-speed motion of axles 3, 4during the operation of the machine (the fast speed drive 39 being disconnected in this case); this low-speed driving of both axles 3 and 4 is produced by electric motors 41, 42 through suitable reduction gearings.

Increased outputs may be obtained by using double or triple excavating chains so arranged that the excess of ballast running over the first chain is collected by the next chain, the chain assembly having nevertheless the same overall dimensions between two horizontal planes. Such'a digging device is shown in Figure 16, and comprises two scraper chain excavators 43-44, digging and collecting the ballast located above a same horizontal level 9; in this figure the two excavators, forming also elevators, are arranged one behind the other and the speed of the machine is adjusted in such a manner that ballast dug by the first scraper chain of the front excavator 43 runs over said chain at 45 and is collected and elevated by the rear excavator-elevator 44.

We claim:

1. Machine for continuously clearing away the ballast from under railway track sleepers, screening and spreading said ballast, consisting of a front truck having a front axle and a rear axle, excavating means mounted in overhanging and coaxial relationship at the rear of said front truck and adjustable in depth, screening means and waste dumping means mounted on said front truck, a semitrailer having its front end pivotally coupled to and supported by the rear end of said front truck about an axis at right angles to the railway track and coincident with the plane of said rear axle, a supporting device positioned astern of said excavating means, coupled thereto and adapted on the one side to bear on the formation bed resulting from the passage of said excavating means and on the other side to engage the underside of said railway track for supporting and if necessary lift it by an amount sufiicient for the passage of said excavating means as the machine progresses, ballast spreading means positioned under said railway track astern of said supporting device and adjustably carried by said semi-trailer, an axle for supporting the rear end of said semi-trailer on said railway track, conveyor means for transferring the ballast dug by said excavating means to said sceening means, the recovered ballast to said ballast spreading means and the waste from said screening means to said Waste dumping means, power means operatively connected with one axle of the machine for rendering it self-propelling at a certain speed in inoperative conditions and other power means adapted on the one hand to supply the energy required for actuating the various mechanisms of the machine and on the other hand to drive one axle thereof also for rendering the machine self-propelling but at a relatively lower speed than said certain speed when the machine is operating.

2. Machine for continuously clearing away the ballast from under railway track sleepers, screening and spreading said ballast, consisting of a front track having a front axle, a rear axle and a frame, said frame carrying at its rear end an overhanging extension supporting a crosstie at its outer end, excavating means mounted on said cross-tie and adjustable in depth, a vibrating screener and a waste dumping conveyor mounted on said frame, a semi-trailer having a frame supported at its rear end by an axle, the front end of said semi-trailer frame being pivotally coupled to and supported by said rear end of said front truck about an axis at right angles to the railway track and coincident with the plane of said rear axle, a pair of cooperating crawler tracks positioned astern of said excavating means, coupled thereto and adapted with one crawler track to bear on the formation bed resulting from the passage of said excavating means and with the other crawler track to engage the underside of said railway track for supporting and if necessary lifting it by an amount sufficient for permitting the resses, a ballast spreader positioned under said railway track astern of said pair of cooperating crawler tracks and adjustably carried by said semi-trailer frame, a first conveyor for transferring the ballast dug by said excavating means to said vibrating screener, a second conveyor for transferring the recovered ballast from said vibrating screener to said ballast spreader, a third conveyor for transferring the fine gravel from said vibrating screener to said waste dumping conveyor, a power unit operatively connected with one of said axles whereby the machine is made self-propelling at a certain speed in the inoperative conditions of the ballast-handling means thereof, another power unit adapted on the one hand to supply the energy required for actuating the various mechanisms of the machine and on the other hand to make the machine self-propelling but at a relatively lower speed than said certain speed when the machine is handling the ballast by means of said mechanisms.

3. Machine for continuously clearing away the ballast from under railway track sleepers, screening and spreading said ballast, consisting of a front truck having a front axle, a rear axle and a frame, said frame carrying at its rear end an overhanging extension supporting a crosstie at its outer end, excavating means mounted on said cross-tie and adjustable in depth, a vibrating screener having one longitudinal side hingedly mounted on said frame and its other longitudinal side also mounted on said frame but through the medium of adjustable jack means whereby the inclination of said vibrating screener may be varied in accordance with the slope of formation of the railway track, a waste dumping conveyor also mounted on said frame, a semi-trailer having a frame supported at its rear end by an axle, the front end of said semi-trailer frame being pivotally coupled to and supported by said rear end of said front truck about an axis at right angles to the said railway track and coincident with the plane of said rear axle, a pair of cooperating crawler tracks positioned astern of said excavating means, coupled thereto and adapted with one crawler track to bear on the formation bed resulting from the passage of said excavating means and with the other crawler track to engage the underside of said railway track for supporting and if necessary lifting it by an amount sutficient for permitting the passage of said excavating means as the machine progresses, a ballast spreader positioned under said railway track astern of said pair of cooperating crawler tracks and adjustably carried by said semi-trailer frarne, a first conveyor for transferring the ballast dug by said excavating means to said vibrating screener, a second conveyor for transferring the recovered ballast from said vibrating screener to said ballast spreader, a power unit operatively connected with one of said axles whereby the machine is made self-propelling at a certain speed in the inoperative conditions of the ballast-handling means thereof, another power unit adapted on the one hand to supply the energy required for actuating the various mechanisms of the machine and on the other hand to make the machine self-propelling but at a speed relatively lower than said certain speed when the machine is handling the ballast by means of said mechanisms.

4. Machine for continuously clearing away the ballast from under railway track sleepers, screening and spreading said ballast, consisting of a front track having a front axle, a rear axle and a frame, said frame carrying at its rear end an overhanging extension supporting a cross-tie at its outer end, excavating means mounted on said cross-tie and adjustable in depth, a vibrating screener having one longitudinal side hingedly mounted on said frame and its other longitudinal side also mounted on said frame but through the medium of adjustable jack means whereby the inclination of said screener may be varied in accordance with the slope of formation of the railway track, a waste dumping conveyor also mounted on said frame, a semi-trailer having a frame the front end of which is pivotally coupled to and supported by said rear end of said front truckabout an axis at right anglesto the said railway track and coincident with the plane of saidrearaxle, a pair of cooperating crawler tracks positioned astern of the operative end of said excavating means, coupled to said excavating means and adapted with one crawler track to engage the underside of said railway track for supporting and if necessary lifting it by an amount sufficient for permitting the passage of said excavating means as the machine progresses, the rear portion of said semi-trailer frame being supported by an axle the wheels of which bear on the track portion engaged by the other of said crawler tracks and being therefore also supported by said other crawler track, a ballast spreader positioned under said railway track astern ofsaid pair of cooperating crawler tracks and adjustably carried by said semi-trailer frame, a first conveyor for transferring the ballast dugv by said excavating means to said vibrating screener, a second convcyor for shifting the recovered ballast from said vi brating screener to said ballast spreader, a power unit operatively connected with one, of said axles whereby the machine is made self-propelling at a certain speed in the inoperative conditions of the. ballast-handling means thereof, another power unit adapted on the one hand to supply the energy required for actuating the various mechanisms of the machine and on the other hand to make the machine self-propelling but at a speed relatively lower than said certain .speed when the-machine is handling the ballast by means of said mechanisms.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,004,051 Lemaire June 4, 1935 

